ted williams?

Question

ted williams had 521 homeruns, but he missed 700 games because he went to the war, in 700 games at that games i think he could have hit around 250-300 homeruns which means he would have finished with 770-825 homeruns, which is far superior than Babe Ruth, what do you guys think?

Answer 1

Ted Williams missed 727 games - his average HR total per 162 games was 37 - 727/162=4.4877 x 37=166 . So just by the numbers Ted Williams service in WWII and Korea cost him 166 homeruns...(Yes, I know they played 154 games seasons then, these are projections)

I have to think the effect on his career would have been greater. I don't care who you are, taking almost 5 full seasons out of the heart of his career had to have a detrimental effect..

The numbers say 521HR plus 166 more and his total "could" have been 687. I think it's highly likely that he would have surpassed 700..

There were men who flew with Ted Williams that said he was a better combat pilot than he was a hitter, including his flight commander in Korea who made Williams his wing man..He said later that it was not so he could fly cover for Williams it was the other way around, that "Ted Williams was the best fighter pilot he had ever seen"...

Answer 2

I think Ted Williams was the best overall hitter the game has ever seen - he hit for average, he hit homeruns, he drove in runs and he played the game the way it was supposed to be played - there's no doubt that the games he missed really affected his numbers but it did not diminish his greatness - he missed a little more than 4 seasons so I don't think he would have hit close to 300 homeruns during the time he missed - he would have had to hit 50 a year to get 200 homers in 4 season - he would have finished with 650-700 homers and his average would have been extremely high as always -

Answer 3

Ted Williams missed 3 seasons '43-45'.
He averaged 147 games a year for 3 years before and 3 years after this, or about 150 a year.
So we can round that to 450 missed games (150 x 3)
he hit 231 HR in 880 games during those 6 years.

he hit a homerun every 3.81 games during these prime years.

450 / 3.81 = 118 approximately

We can reasonbly presume that he would have had about 639 HR (521 + 118)

Great but not threatening to then record of Babe Ruth

Answer 4

Williams missed 1943, 1944, 1945, 1951 and part of 1952. He could well have hit another 150 or more home runs in that period.
In an interview in 1999 when he was back in Boston for the Allstar game, he was asked what record or achievement he was proudest of, hitting .406, being elected to the Hall of Fame, and he said, "Being a Marine." So he had no regrets over where he spent 4 1/2 seasons.

Answer 5

Could have - interesting to speculate. Only one thing is certain if he had the Babe would still be the one people remember because he was such a larger than life character. If he hadn't pitched for a number of years, he would have probably hit 800 easily even though it was the dead ball era. Everyone seems to forget the Babe spent something like 4-5 years as a pitcher.

Answer 6

I think you bring up a legitimate point. I think you are too liberal with your projections though. 700 at bats is 2 seasons today, they played fewer games back then, but still, no way he is going to hit that many home runs.But would have hit many more, no doubt. Now Ruth in his defense, was a pitcher the first few years he played, and lost time too and played in the dead ball era. But that said, it would have been interesting to see what Williams would have done.
With today's pampered athlete, can you imagine Barry Bonds or A Rod going into the army?

Answer 7

Ted Williams was not only one of the greatest hitter of all time, he was a tremendous man. But you have your stats wrong. He missed three years of baseball and at 152 games per year, not near 700.

Answer 8

I second TG specials answer. Good point

Answer 9

and the hr leader

Answer 10

i think that is an accurate assesment